E-Z wire twister

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a tool for twisting a plurality of wires together. The tool includes a body portion having a cavity that includes a plurality of contiguous openings to receive a plurality of wires. The tool also includes a gripping portion for gripping the tool. The body portion holds the plurality of wires in a fixed position relative to one another. Rotation of the gripping portion in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction rotates the body portion in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction thereby twisting the plurality of wires together. The gripping portion may be a rod that can be is inserted substantially perpendicularly into the body portion.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/781,651, filed on Mar. 14, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to joining electrical wires or conductors.More specifically, the invention relates to an improved means oftwisting a plurality of wires together.

2. Background of the Invention

In the electrical industry, conductors or wires carry current(electricity) from the power source to the device that is to be powered.Because of the limited length of conductors, the ends have to beproperly joined or spliced in order to conduct the amount of electricityrequired. These connections can be made using various methods such as,for example: 1) by crimping on a compression sleeve; 2) using amechanical clamping connector; 3) with a soldered joint; or 4) with awire nut. In all of the previous connection methods, the wire has to beprepared. This procedure is usually accomplished by first removing theinsulation covering the wires to a length sufficient to provide anadequate connection between the wires.

There are several methods in the industry for preparing the ends of thewires. One of the methods of twisting wires typically involves removingapproximately one inch of insulation from each end of the wires that arebeing connected. The ends of the wires that are being twisted are heldby a pair of pliers approximately one inch from the ends. The far endsof the group of un-insulated wires are then held with another pair ofpliers. The pliers on the far ends of the wires are then twisted in aclockwise direction. After twisting, the wires are joined in a spiralmanner. The connector most commonly used to complete the connection is awire nut. The wire nut is installed by placing it over the wire ends andtwisting it in a clockwise direction. With this method, however, theends of the wires prior to twisting are widely spread apart making itvery difficult to twist them properly using two pair of pliers. Inaddition, often times the wires are not twisted properly and as a resultthey can separate prior to installing the connector. Typically with thismethod, one or more of the wires remain straight or untwisted with theother wires wrapping around it. Therefore the wires that remain straightor untwisted can be pulled out from within the twisted ones.Additionally, this method is difficult especially when there are four ormore wires to be joined or twisted.

The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior methods oftwisting wires together. The present invention relates to a tool that isboth easy to use and also efficient in forming a uniform twist,irrespective of the number of wires being twisted together.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved means to twist a pluralityof wires together. The invention is a wire twister that twists two ormore metal or plastic wires together.

It is an object of the invention to impart a uniform twist to all thewires while also twisting them together as one. This is accomplished bythe instant wire twister, hereinafter referred to as the tool, byautomatically grouping the ends together prior to twisting. In otherwords, the instant wire twister automatically arranges the wires in aproper orientation for them to be twisted. Two or more wires arebasically inserted into the tool that has a cavity that arranges theends of the wires from a widely spread out configuration into a properlytwisted configuration. Because all of the wire ends are being properlyheld in the cavity of the tool, they are all twisted together to haveuniform twist within the twisted or cabled wire. After the wires aretwisted together, a wire nut can be installed over the twisted wire orcable to complete the connection.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention arepointed out in particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a partof this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, itsoperating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses,reference is made to the accompanying descriptive matter in whichpreferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which corresponding components are identifiedby the same reference numerals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description, given by way of example and notintended to limit the present invention solely thereto, will best beappreciated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals denote like elements and parts, in which:

FIG. 1A is a side view of the wire twisting tool according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 1B is a front perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a rear view of the twisting head of the of the wire twistingtool according to the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the twisting head shown in FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the twisting head of the of thewire twisting tool setting forth various distances in accordance with;

FIG. 3B is a front view of the twisting head shown in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the wire twisting tool (right) and astandard wire crimp pliers (left) holding two wires to be twisted;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the two wires being inserted into theopenings of the wire twisting tool;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the wire twisting tool with the wireshaving been twisted inside the tool;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the bottom view of the wire twistingtool and the two wires having been twisted together;

FIG. 8A is a perspective view of two wires twisted together using thewire twisting tool;

FIG. 8B is a perspective view of three wires twisted together using thewire twisting tool; and

FIG. 8C is a perspective view of four wires twisted together using thewire twisting tool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is a wire twister used for twisting a plurality ofmetal or plastic wires together. The wire twister according to thepresent invention is designed based on a socket concept, similar to amechanical socket tool. As depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the wire twisteror tool 24 comprises a twister head or body portion 10 and a twister rodor gripping portion 12. The twister rod 12 can be inserted into thetwister head 10 such that it is substantially perpendicular to thetwister head 10. Other means for twisting the head 10 may be utilized ifsuitable for the purpose. For example a ratchet device may be used andinserted into a standard type ratchet opening as shown in FIG. 2A.

A cavity 14 inside the twister head 10 is specifically designed toreceive the wires and re-arrange them prior to twisting. FIG. 1B, whichis a front view of the twister head 10 of tool 24 of the presentinvention and shows the cavity 14 consisting of several stages ofintersecting configurations. In other words, the cavity 14 is acombination of a plurality of contiguous cylindrical or circular holesor openings 16. The holes or openings 16 can be cylindrical, taperedcylindrical or any other geometrical shape suitable for twistingpurposes. Generally, the shape of the openings 16 depends on thecross-sectional shape of the wires being twisted. In the case ofcircular openings 16, the openings 16 formed may be of differentdiameters to assist twisting of wires having varied thicknesses orgauges. Though the examples cited herein refer to twisting two, three orfour wires, the tool according to the present invention is not confinedto these numbers, but can also be used to twist a plurality of wiresirrespective of their gauge.

The configurations of the twisting head of the tool according to thepresent invention are designed to capture and reshape the ends of thewires. As shown in FIG. 2B, at the entrance of the first end 21 of thecavity 14 there is a funnel shape area ‘C’. This consists of an angle‘A’ which has a large opening 18 at one end and tapers down ultimatelyto a smaller opening 20 at the opposite end. This tapered angle ‘A’ isextended along the length ‘L1’ as shown in FIG. 3A. Area ‘C’ is wherethe wires are converted from a spread open shape to a bundle or aregrouped together.

After being pushed into and entering into area ‘D’, the wires are thenguided along the length ‘L2’ in FIG. 3A to the next area, area ‘E’. Area‘E’ is the area were the individual wires are separated into severalradius cavities 23 of which four are shown in FIG. 3B. These aresomewhat cross shaped with the rewired portion thereof having a stop atleast for a portion of the ends of the cross. The wires are then held inthese cavities along the length ‘L-3’. In other words, the tool has aprovision for grouping the wires together and then holding them in afixed position relative to each other. This task may be performed byhaving grooved or guided channels (not shown in the Figures) within thecavity 14 for guiding the wires into the cavities 16 and holding them intheir respective positions. The channels may also be used to re-arrangethe wires prior to twisting. Accordingly, area ‘E’ serves to grip aplurality of wires, typically four prior to twisting. Note that it wouldalso serve to grip a three wire arrangement prior to twisting.

The next area ‘F’ is where the two wires are guided into area ‘G’. Area‘F’ is tapered or funnel-shaped with an angle ‘B’ along length ‘L-4’.Area ‘G’ in FIG. 2B is the area that allows only two wires to enter. Inother words, when only two wires are being twisted together, they passthru areas ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘E’ and into area ‘G’. If more than two wiresare being twisted together, they are only able to enter into areas ‘C’,‘D’, and ‘E’ and are prevented from entering area ‘G’ due to theconstruction between areas E′ and G′ at the back of area E′. Thisprevents more than two wires passing into area G′ which is formed in theshape of an oval so as to accommodate only two wires of various gauges.Area ‘G’ is where the wires are held in the cavity radius 25 along thelength ‘L-5’ as shown in FIGS. 2B and 3A. When all of the wires arefully inserted into the cavity 14, the twister head 10 can then betwisted in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction in order to impartthe required amount of twist to the wires, thereby twisting themtogether as one. This converts the plurality of wires from a wide spreadgroup into a uniformly twisted wire or cable.

FIGS. 4-8 show the process of twisting a plurality (in this case two) ofwires 22 using the tool 24 according to the present invention. FIG. 4 isa shape of the twister 24 (right) and a standard wire crimp pliers 28(left) holding two wires 22 to be twisted. It should be noted that aportion of the wire insulation has been removed from the wires 22 to betwisted or joined together. This enables proper arrangement of the wires22 within the cavity 14 of the twister head 10.

FIG. 5 shows the two wires 22 being inserted into the cavity 14 of thewire twister head 10 which are allowed to extend into area G′ which asaforesaid is oval shaped. After insertion, the wires 22 are then twistedby rotating the twister rod 12 as shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 shows thebottom view of the twister 24 and the two wires 22 that are now twistedtogether. As depicted in FIG. 8A, in addition to twisting two wirestogether, those skilled in the art will appreciate that an additionalnumber of wires can be twisted at the same time using the tool of theinstant invention. For example, the tool of the instant invention mayalso be used to twist three or four wires together as shown in FIGS.8B-C. However, the use of the tool is not confined to the numbersmentioned herein and may be used to twist a plurality of wires together.The tool may even be used to join wires of different gauges. Each wiregauge will have a different size twister and this size may be adjustableaccording to the gauge of the wires being twisted.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention andmodifications thereof have been described in detail herein, it is to beunderstood that this invention is not limited to this precise embodimentand modifications, and that other modifications and variations may beeffected by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The use of theinstant tool in accordance with the invention is not limited to metalwires, in other words, the tool can be used anywhere where there is arequirement for two or more elements to be twisted or cabled together,including flexible plastic or other twistable material.

1. A tool for twisting ends of a plurality of wires together, said toolcomprising: a body portion; said body portion comprises a cavity havinga plurality of contiguous openings to receive said ends of plurality ofwires; a gripping portion for gripping said tool; and wherein said bodyportion holds the ends of the plurality of wires in a fixed positionrelative to one another, whereupon the rotation of said body portioncauses the ends to twist about each other.
 2. The tool according toclaim 1, wherein each of said plurality of contiguous openings extendalong a length within said cavity.
 3. The tool according to claim 1,wherein each of said plurality of contiguous openings are cylindricallyshaped.
 4. The tool according to claim 1, wherein at least one of saidplurality of contiguous openings has a tapered cylindrical shape.
 5. Thetool according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of contiguous openingsare any geometrical shape that allows a plurality of wires to beinserted.
 6. The tool according to claim 1, wherein said plurality ofcontiguous openings can accommodate at least three of said ends.
 7. Thetool according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said plurality ofcontiguous openings can accommodate no more than two of said ends. 8.The tool according to claim 1 which further includes an angled openingfor gathering said ends for insertion into a first or second contiguousopening.
 9. The tool according to claim 8 wherein said first contiguousopening can receive at least three said ends for twisting.
 10. The toolaccording to claim 9 wherein said second contiguous opening can receiveno more than two said ends for twisting.
 11. The tool according to claim10 wherein said first opening is positioned between said second openingand said angled opening.
 12. A method of twisting a plurality of wirestogether, said method comprising the steps of: providing a toolcomprising: a body portion having a cavity comprising a plurality ofcontiguous openings to receive said plurality of wires; a grippingportion for gripping said tool; inserting said plurality of wires intosaid cavity of said body portion to hold said plurality of wires in afixed position relative to one another; and rotating said grippingportion in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction thereby twistingsaid plurality of wires together.
 13. The method according to claim 12,wherein said gripping portion is a rod substantially perpendicular tosaid body portion.
 14. The method according to claim 12, wherein each ofsaid plurality of contiguous openings extends along a length within saidcavity.
 15. The method according to claim 12, wherein said plurality ofcontiguous openings are cylindrically-shaped.
 16. The method accordingto claim 12, wherein at least one of said plurality of contiguousopenings has a tapered cylindrical shape.
 17. The method according toclaim 12, wherein said plurality of contiguous openings are of anygeometrical shape that allows a plurality of wires to be inserted. 18.The method according to claim 14, wherein at least one of said pluralityof contiguous openings can accommodate at least three of said ends. 19.The method according to claim 12, wherein at least one of said pluralityof contiguous openings can accommodate no more than two of said ends.20. The method according to claim 14, which further includes an angledopening for gathering said ends for insertion into a first or secondcontiguous opening.
 21. The method according to claim 20 wherein saidfirst contiguous opening can receive at least three said ends fortwisting.
 22. The method according to claim 21 wherein said secondcontiguous opening can receive no more than two said ends for twisting.23. The method according to claim 22 wherein said first opening ispositioned between said second opening and said angled opening.